Will Carnival change my ship?

[insidethepocket]

My group is booked on the Conquest for May 2016 and this "dancing of the ships" thing has me confused. Will Carnival switch ships for cruises that are already booked? I had assumed that it was future dates out of the booking range, but now I'm not so sure.

[rtw68]

They could and did to us. We were on the Liberty in just two weeks and last October they switched Liberty & Valor this past March. :(

 

We really wanted a 2.0 ship and changed our booking to the Sunshine.

[insidethepocket]

So, if they change the ship is there a penalty to cancel? There isn't anything special about the Conquest and we'd be open to other ships, but we don't want an old small ship (to include the Sunshine).

[winddawn]

So, if they change the ship is there a penalty to cancel? There isn't anything special about the Conquest and we'd be open to other ships, but we don't want an old small ship (to include the Sunshine).

I believe you would have the option to cancel (but read the details). You can read Carnival's policy about that at the link below. The important thing to remember is that they only give you 24 hours to decide what you want to do under certain circumstances. I have read posts here from others who said that they were able to get a better cruise out of the deal, so it might pay to do some research ahead of time to better understand your preferred options before the situation occurs.

 

http://www.carnival.com/about-carnival/legal-notice/port-cancellation-policy.aspx

Edited April 11, 2015 by winddawn

[Mscruiser53]

Happened to us - Sunshine to Conquest. Actually, had completely forgotten about it until I read the post.

[winterpeg2004]

Conquest just moved to Fort Lauderdale in February. I would be surprised if they moved it again.

[insidethepocket]

Conquest just moved to Fort Lauderdale in February. I would be surprised if they moved it again.

 

Thanks, that puts me at ease a little. I really just want to be prepared in case. We're a group of 10, in 4 cabins, so it will be hard to switch ships/cruises/cabins etc.

[klepton]

related questions, when this happens how do they typically handle room assignments? Will they just automatically book people into randomly assigned rooms of the same type/category on the new ship? Or would your booking follow the ship to the new itinerary and then you'd need to rebook to the new ship based on available cabins?

 

I ask because I have an aft-wrap booked, currently there are no more available on my sailing.

[sandij]

We just had our whole cruise cancelled due to the ship being sold to a charter. They did let us book on another comparable cruise for the same rate but it wasn't the same itinerary and is very disappointing.

[surfone]

We just had our whole cruise cancelled due to the ship being sold to a charter. They did let us book on another comparable cruise for the same rate but it wasn't the same itinerary and is very disappointing.

 

What happens in your case if you had paid for airline tickets, does the cruiseline reimburse for the airfare? That has now made me question this because we usually fly to the port for departure.

[kona_wahine]

We booked the Breeze for next April and was wondering the same thing. I think we will be ok. I don't think they will move her until the Vista comes to miami. At least that's what I'm hoping.

[Sparky2]

Conquest just moved to Fort Lauderdale in February. I would be surprised if they moved it again.

 

We were on the first Conquest cruise when she moved from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale. We actually saw "our ship come in"!

 

We had been booked on a B2B on Freedom but were switched to Conquest when they decided to send Freedom to Texas. I thought about switching to the last 2 cruises on Freedom before the move which included the move to Galveston, but we already had our flights booked.

[sandij]

Ours was far enough out that no one would have had air arrangements made yet/ I don't think the Breeze is moving until 12/16

[Donh44]

What happens in your case if you had paid for airline tickets, does the cruiseline reimburse for the airfare? That has now made me question this because we usually fly to the port for departure.

 

 

 

Did you have Travel Insurance? Would that apply in a situation like this? I would think that it would.

[jmcancruise]

We were switched from the Valor to the Liberty. Problem was we had one of the two grand scenic ocean view rooms on the Valor. They "upgraded" us to a lido balcony. Not an upgrade in our opinion, but we have decided to go with and just have a wonderful cruise anyway.

[kteachcruiser52]

We were on the first Conquest cruise when she moved from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale. We actually saw "our ship come in"!

 

We had been booked on a B2B on Freedom but were switched to Conquest when they decided to send Freedom to Texas. I thought about switching to the last 2 cruises on Freedom before the move which included the move to Galveston, but we already had our flights booked.

 

We were on those 2 cruises, too. I was surprised they treated them as a B2B even though they were on different ships. After we got through customs, they put our luggage in a special crate that they took to the terminal where Conquest was docked. We got the in transit pass and the champagne and fruit basket at the beginning of the second cruise (Conquest). It was neat to actually see the ship come in. The cookies and lemonade in the Priority lounge went fast though as people were hungry as we boarded later than usual.

[eponym]

Did you have Travel Insurance? Would that apply in a situation like this? I would think that it would.

 

I wish I had the answer to that question. Hoping someone will know for certain if routinely covered by trip insurance that covers from point of departing city until return to departing city coverage.

[klepton]

I can't say with authority, and all policies are different, but I believe this would fall under your travel insurance coverage. I don't know if it matters if the cruise is listed as the main destination/operator of your trip though. Seeing as there wouldn't be anything preventing you from traveling to your departure port, flights might not be covered in some scenarios.

 

But I think most insurance policies would cover any change fees associated with moving to a new cruise.